The Lawyer's Daily: Columnistshttp://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/Columnists?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section
Latest articles for: ColumnistsCopyright 2018 LawyersDailyen-USMon, 19 Mar 2018 08:39:42 +0000Avoid nasty surprises by preparing your client for mediation | Stuart Rudner http://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/6113?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section
http://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/6113When I am chosen to mediate an employment law dispute, my goal is to help the parties reach a reasonable resolution. In the vast majority of cases, I am successful in doing so. However, this is occasionally despite the fact that &ldquo;unexpected&rdquo; issues arise which delay or derail the discussions. I put unexpected in quotes because they may not have been anticipated by the parties, but counsel should have discussed them in advance as part of the preparation for mediation.Fri, 16 Mar 2018 08:47:48 +0000The accuracy of AI in predicting future criminal behaviour | Anthony Doob and Rosemary Gartnerhttp://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/6090?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section
http://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/6090There is no doubt that sophisticated artificial intelligence systems are now part of our lives. Many of us ride in driverless trains without any worries. Driverless cars are being tested and, it would seem, will soon be on the roads. So why would anyone have concerns about using complex computer-based algorithms to make decisions about what to do with those caught up in the criminal justice system?Wed, 14 Mar 2018 08:37:27 +0000Mapping the demographics of polyamory | John-Paul Boydhttp://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/6057?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section
http://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/6057People who are polyamorous are, or prefer to be, involved in more than one intimate relationship at a time. Some polyamorists are involved in stable, long-term loving relationships involving two or more other people. Others are simultaneously engaged in a number of relationships of varying degrees of permanence and commitment. Still others are involved in a web of concurrent relationships which range from short-term relationships that are purely sexual in nature to more enduring relationships characterized by deep emotional attachments.Tue, 13 Mar 2018 08:54:56 +0000Why we need an Anti-#MeToo movement | Laurelly Dalehttp://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/6089?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section
http://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/6089An interview with criminal defence counsel and feminist Angela Chaisson was published in The Lawyer&rsquo;s Daily on March 1. In it, she calls for the legal profession to have its own #MeToo movement. Changing behaviour and process is difficult. I commend the #MeToo movement for cultivating a culture of intolerance; however, it has deprived those accused of a fair process and presumption of innocence. Important safeguards are being washed away at its expense.Mon, 12 Mar 2018 08:50:44 +0000Rush to adapt misses the profession’s biggest problem: Unrepresented litigants | Julius Melnitzerhttp://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/6078?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section
http://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/6078Even genuine self-examination runs the risk of succumbing to navel gazing. So it is with the legal profession these days. Never before have lawyers been so caught up in rapid change. And never before have they taken such a long, hard look at themselves. But in the frenzy to get it all right, the profession is effectively ignoring the biggest, most immediate problem staring down our legal system: the unrepresented litigant.Thu, 08 Mar 2018 12:57:01 +0000Innovative law school will provide much-needed disruptive change | Fernando Garciahttp://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/6065?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section
http://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/6065A 21st century economy and society require a 21st century legal profession that delivers on access, equity and diversity, economic growth, and employment - just the sort of law school that Ryerson University is proposing. This is not about Ryerson wanting a law school, as Mark Bourrie contends in the March 1st edition of The Lawyer&rsquo;s Daily; it is about an innovative university responding to significant changes sweeping both the legal profession and society at large. Thu, 08 Mar 2018 10:27:00 +0000International Women’s Day a call to arms for lawyers | Leanne Townsendhttp://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/6064?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section
http://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/6064It&rsquo;s International Women&rsquo;s Day 2018 and it&rsquo;s a great time to be a woman. There is an energetic movement underway resulting from the momentum of the #MeToo and #TimesUp campaigns. Women are joining forces and banding together in unprecedented ways, holding men who have abused their power accountable and demanding equal treatment.Wed, 07 Mar 2018 08:45:06 +0000Wellness: Being a witness turned me into a lawyer with empathy | Darryl Singerhttp://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/6044?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section
http://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/6044This column is about listening, learning, developing empathy and compassion as a lawyer.Tue, 06 Mar 2018 09:04:52 +0000Why cocaine is expensive: Time for a real war on drugs | Ryan Handlarskihttp://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/5948?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section
http://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/5948Why is the price of cocaine so damn high? Cocaine looks just like sugar, but I can walk into any Starbucks and get a gram of sugar for free. Cocaine would cost me around $100 per gram. This is the principal question that we must be concerned with in order to understand, and reduce, the incentives for drug trafficking.Mon, 05 Mar 2018 08:55:50 +0000Tax Views: Federal budget changes rules for investment income of private corporations | Vern Krishnahttp://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/6017?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section
http://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/6017The federal budget of Feb. 27, 2018, (the Budget), robs Peter to pay Paul by changing the landscape for professionals who use private corporations to structure their businesses. The Budget reduces the small business tax rate from 10.5 per cent to 10 per cent for 2018, and to nine per cent for 2019 and beyond. The opportunities for tax deferral increase as the spread between small business tax rates, corporate investment income rates and top personal marginal rates increase. The Budget seeks to blunt the deferral opportunities that result.Mon, 05 Mar 2018 08:43:18 +0000Conditional sentences and restorative justice | Robert Karrasshttp://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/5931?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section
http://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/5931Sentencing is not about doling out the harshest penalty available. Rather, once an offender has been convicted, the court must engage in a judicial weighing of the principles of sentencing and apply those principles to the circumstances of the offender in light of the impact the crime has had on the victim and society as a whole (while also considering how other courts have treated similar offences in similar circumstances). The result should be the most appropriate sentence in the circumstances.Fri, 02 Mar 2018 08:45:11 +0000Tax Views: Taxation of multinational enterprises | Vern Krishnahttp://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/6013?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section
http://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/6013The taxation of multinational enterprises (MNEs) is of significant concern as countries are increasingly concerned with the erosion of their taxable base through profit shifting from high tax to low tax jurisdictions. Worries over tax avoidance led to the Base Erosion and Profit Sharing (BEPS) project by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Encouraged by the heads of state of the G20 countries in 2013, the OECD drafted 15 BEPS action items.Thu, 01 Mar 2018 11:59:53 +0000Access to Justice: Rise Women’s Legal Centre connecting with diverse communities | Thomas Cromwellhttp://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/5993?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section
http://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/5993This is part two of an interview Thomas Cromwell had with Kim Hawkins, Executive Director of the Rise Women&rsquo;s Legal Centre in Vancouver.Thu, 01 Mar 2018 08:45:43 +0000Why Ryerson’s law school is a bad idea | Mark Bourriehttp://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/6005?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section
http://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/6005Paul Schabas, treasurer of the Law Society of Ontario, has an interesting justification for Ryerson&rsquo;s proposed law school, which was approved by the LSO last week: students from Ontario are heading to the United Kingdom and other countries to study Canadian law, so there&rsquo;s a demand from students for a new law school in this province. But there have always been students who wanted to go to Ontario law schools and didn’t make the cut.Wed, 28 Feb 2018 09:07:52 +0000Why wealthy Quebec immigrants settling in Vancouver and Toronto is a problem | Colin Singer http://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/5992?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section
http://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/5992Thousands of wealthy candidates who come to Canada through the Quebec Immigrant Investor Program (QIIP) are settling in Vancouver and Toronto. These high net worth individuals are using the QIIP as a back door to Canada&rsquo;s two most popular cities and are being blamed for driving up the housing markets in these major metropolitan areas.Tue, 27 Feb 2018 11:27:42 +0000The Coach: Don’t sell your clients, serve them | Gary Mitchellhttp://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/5620?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section
http://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/5620Years ago I coined the phrase &ldquo;cross-serving&rdquo; to replace the outdated phrase &ldquo;cross-selling.&rdquo; I am confident I was the first one to use it in articles, presentations and my coaching work. Nonetheless, it&rsquo;s important on a couple of levels.Tue, 27 Feb 2018 08:16:25 +0000Lack of law profession transparency preventing necessary culture change | Julius Melnitzerhttp://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/5916?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section
http://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/5916If you&rsquo;re Law Society of Ontario (LSO) treasurer Paul Schabas, you&rsquo;ve got to be frustrated by the results of the recent LSO survey that prompted 20 per cent of responding articling students to reveal that they had received &ldquo;unwelcome attention.&rdquo;Mon, 26 Feb 2018 08:46:25 +0000Trudeau’s dance of deception on Indigenous rights | Pamela Palmaterhttp://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/5976?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section
http://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/5976On February 14, 2018, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his plan to develop a new legislative framework called the &ldquo;Recognition and Implementation of Rights Framework&rdquo; intended to recognize Indigenous rights and avoid litigation. This announcement came after the incredulous not guilty verdict in the Gerald Stanley murder trial &ndash; the farmer who killed Colten Boushie from Red Pheasant First Nation &ndash; and the subsequent nationwide rallies and protests by Indigenous peoples. There is no doubt that Trudeau was trying to deflect attention from the deep-rooted racism within Canada&rsquo;s justice system &ndash; but also in his own government&rsquo;s failure to take substantive action on any of the injustices facing Indigenous peoples. Fri, 23 Feb 2018 09:28:44 +0000Access to Justice: How the Rise Women’s Legal Centre helps the most marginalized | Thomas Cromwell http://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/5961?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section
http://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/5961One of the biggest of the access to justice challenges is the gap in availability of legal services. So many people fall in the gap between eligibility for legal aid and the ability to retain private counsel. One innovative initiative to help fill parts of this gap is the Rise Women&rsquo;s Legal Centre in Vancouver.Thu, 22 Feb 2018 10:36:57 +0000Political commentary on Stanley verdict enters dangerous territory | Clayton Ruby and Annamaria Enenajorhttp://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/5958?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section
http://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/5958The outrage on the part of politicians that followed the acquittal of Gerald Stanley for the 2016 death of Colten Boushie is appropriate, but it should not be directed toward the outcome of this case; rather it should be directed toward the root causes of the injustice that this case represents to so many. We require action on the part of our political leaders, not abstract rhetoric on how we can and must do better.